We're partnering with Google to help put every local business on the map, including yours.

Businesses that have complete business information online are twice as likely to be considered reputable by consumers. When people can find info about local dentists, dry cleaners, and your business, our community becomes even stronger.

Getting all of your business info online is free and easy. Get started at www.gybo.com.

See you on the Web,

Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development CenterOfficial City Partner, Let's Put Our Cities on the Map

P.S. Join us Friday, Aug. 7, at the McMath Library in Little Rock for hands-on help getting found on Google maps and searches. This program is free and available to all businesses, so spread the word.﻿

“My wife and I are planning to start a food truck business, but are confused about all the licenses and permits we will need to operate the truck. Do we need all the same licenses that a regular restaurant would need?”

When I wrote my first column about kids and money in the 1990s, the hot topic was whether to buy Pump sneakers, one of the first items of kids' apparel with a price tag that passed the $100 mark. Two decades later, I found myself weighing in on whether to pay for LeBron X sneakers, which topped out at $270.

Before and after you release your Mixtape or EP, be prepared to do interviews. Here are a few tips to help you get ready for media interviews.

Preparing For Your Interview

What do you do when someone contacts you for an interview? Do you have a set process, a standard one sheet to send them? Do you have a publicist that gives you information about what they’re looking for? Preparing for an interview is key to keep it lively and interesting. Here are tips about getting ready:

Prepare a One Sheet:

Think of your media one sheet as a resume: list the main bullet points about your music career and a list of accomplishments. Not every journalist will have time to thoroughly research you first and having some kind of guideline will help. In fact, some may even request that you bring a list of talking points or topics of interest.

Set a Goal:

What do you hope to take away from the interview? Some more press? A review? Some promotion about your tour or new record? Try and keep your answers somehow related to your overall goal.

Do Some Research:

Take some time to go through the source: look at other interviews and features that they’ve done to get a vibe of their style, what things they find interesting, and who their audience is. Find out as much as you can about the format, interview length, and how it will be shared. Cater your responses to what you find.

Practice:

Just as you’d want to prepare for a job interview, run through some typical questions that you’ll be asked: inspiration, your band’s history, talking about the new album, etc. You want your stories to be smooth, consistent, and concise. It seems easy but the more you go through it, the more you can keep it interesting and flowing well.

During the Interview

It is becoming increasingly rare for artists to be coached for interviews. There’s just a general assumption that it’s only about answering questions given to you, whether it is by email, phone, or on camera. However, there’s an art to keeping your audience’s attention as well as encouraging them to share the piece. Keep these things in mind:

Engage the Audience:

Don’t just interact with the person asking the questions. Think about their audience and yours: is this something that they really want to read, listen to or watch? How can you make things more of an interactive experience rather than a spectator’s event? Perhaps you can get people listening/watching to use a Twitter hashtag or interact on social media…

Use Complete Sentences:

This is especially important for email interviews. Journalists want to be able to use pull quotes from you but it’s harder to create a story if you’re only using fragments. An easy way to do this is to include part of their question in your answer.

Tell a Story:

Stories are more interesting than facts. They also retain audiences better. While answering questions, try and find ways to inject an occasional story. Instead of talking about your influences, tell a story about how you found an artist, fell in love, and how that worked its way into your music. People love conflict and controversy.

Emotion, Tone:

All of the most viral content in the world has this in common: it strikes a chord with the audience’s feelings. Look at any news site or YouTube and the most shared content for the day, you’ll see this trend. It might be something funny, enraging, sad, or inspirational but it all has some kind of emotional tone to it. Some things have both. Don’t be afraid to interject a little humor or something that gets people fired up.

After the Interview

After the interview has been completed, you’ll want to take the following steps.

Give Thanks:

A simple email note to the interview and media source is all that’s required to keep in good graces. A handwritten note, invitation to a show as a guest, or token of appreciation is even better. You’d be surprised how a little thoughtfulness can go a long way.

Promote It:

Nothing will make the interviewer and their bosses happier (and more likely to give you more features) than if your piece received a lot of traffic. Tell your fans to check it out and share, tell them more than once. Get people to share or interact with the station that airs it via social media.

Save It:

Archive the piece any way that you can: save the website as a .pdf, audio or video file, scan the printed piece, etc. Include it in your list of media received for your press kit.

Here is the list of Small Business Start Up Workshops going on in Arkansas July 20- 30. If you see a location near you on this list please register to attend.

If you have any problems with your registration send me a message and I will help you contact the person in charge of the workshop you would like to attend.

Business Etiquette and Professionalism-Dining

Date: July 20, 2015

Time: 2:00 pm

Location: Reynolds Center, Walton College, U of A Campus

City: Fayetteville

Description: Business Dining is an important part of any business culture. Attendees will learn proper personal dining etiquette for dining-related meetings and interviews as well as general dining procedures, table setting placements, and how to properly interact with restaurant staff for a professional image. Event co-sponsor is the U of A School of Law.

Small Business Start-Up Summit

Date: July 21, 2015

Time: 9:00 am

Location: Arkansas Tech University

City: Russellville

Description: Three workshops in one day are geared to help your small business get started! "Starting a Business in Arkansas," "How to Write a Business Plan," and "Business Financing Options" all help you identify the major steps crucial to starting and financing your endeavor. Valuable resources are included and lunch will be provided. Veterans attend free!

Starting a Business in Arkansas

Date: July 21, 2015

Time: 9:00 am

Location: Delta Center Building, ASU's Main Campus

City: Jonesboro

Description: This seminar prepares you for the intensive business planning process, identifies major steps crucial to starting a business, discusses key issues that affect the success of your business, and discusses start-up requirements and common pitfalls that you will face as an entrepreneur. (Veterans attend FREE)

Market Research: High Quality and In-Depth Analysis for Small Businesses

Date: July 21, 2015

Time: 1:00 pm

Location: Delta Center Building, ASU's Main Campus

City: Jonesboro

Description: The right information is crucial to small business success. Learn about the no-cost marketing research tools and assistance to help any entrepreneur start or any business owner grow a business. Recommended for both start-up and existing businesses.

Five Social Media Strategies for Small Business

Date: July 21, 2015

Time: 6:00 pm

Location: Reynolds Center, Walton College, U of A Campus

City: Fayetteville

Description: Businesses of all sizes are using Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and blogs to connect with customers. We'll show you five low-cost ways social media can bolster your current marketing, trends and recent changes, and you'll leave with your own social media marketing plan or an updated plan to better locate your customers online.

Operating a Home-Based Business

Date: July 22, 2015

Time: 10:00 am

Location: Fordyce Bank & Trust

City: Fordyce

Description: Thousands of people are running businesses out of their homes. Are you considering joining them? This seminar will help you with business planning, ideas, requirements and more to get you headed in the right direction.

EEOC Basics for Small Business

Date: July 23, 2015

Time: 9:00 am

Location: UALR Reynolds Business Center

City: Little Rock

Description: Prevent employment discrimination from occurring in your business. Join us as an EEOC representative gives a basic overview of the laws, regulations, hiring do's and don'ts and record keeping that you as a business owner need to know.

Disaster Preparedness for Small Businesses

Date: July 23, 2015

Time: 10:00 am

Location: Black River Technical College

City: Paragould

Description: This seminar will provide you with the background information and basic planning tools to increase the survivability of your business. Learn about local hazards, how to prepare for future disasters, and most importantly, what assistance will be available following a major disaster.

QuickBooks Beyond the Basics (Hands on)

Date: July 23, 2015

Time: 1:00 pm

Location: Beall Barclay & Company

City: Fort Smith

Description: This hands-on workshop is geared toward experienced QuickBooks users with an emphasis on enhancing the basics of day-to-day usage. Participants will learn to customize reports and forms and to work with inventory, jobs, estimates, progress invoices, and more. A computer will be provided for each participant during this interactive session.

Boosting Business with Great Customer Reviews

Date: July 23, 2015

Time: 3:00 pm

Location: CCCUA-DeQueen

City: DeQueen

Description: Do you know what your customers are saying about your business online? This seminar will lead you through the various online customer review sites, how to create compelling business listings for the most popular sites, and tips for getting great customer reviews!

Put your Business on the Map with Google (FREE!)

Date: July 28, 2015

Time: 1:30 pm

Location: Arkansas Tech University - Ozark Campus

City: Ozark

Description: Businesses with complete online listings are twice as likely to be considered reputable by consumers. Putting your business on Googles map makes it easier for people to find & connect with your business online. Our hands-on workshop lets you see what your listing looks like on Google search and maps & includes work time to manage your own listing.

How to Write a Business Plan

Date: July 29, 2015

Time: 9:00 am

Location: Delta Center Building, ASU's Main Campus

City: Jonesboro

Description: No matter how large or small, all businesses must have a business plan! A business plan will help you define your concept, evaluate your competition, determine risks, and estimate your costs. This seminar will explain and illustrate the business plan format.

NEW! Selling on Etsy

Date: July 29, 2015

Time: 10:00 am

Location: UACCH - Hope

City: Hope

Description: Join us for an afternoon of turning your passion into a creative business. Learn what is a good fit for the Etsy Marketplace, fees involved, and best practices to selling your handmade and vintage items online.

Show Me the Money: Finding Financing for Your Small Business

Date: July 29, 2015

Time: 1:00 pm

Location: Delta Center Building, ASU's Main Campus

City: Jonesboro

Description: This seminar will explain how and where to get financing for prospective and existing businesses. Credit requirements, places to go for funding and the Small Business Administration's loan guaranty program will be presented.

Create Your Own Website Using Weebly

Date: July 30, 2015

Time: 9:00 am

Location: Cross County Chamber of Commerce

City: Wynne

Description: Does your business need a website? Have you been held back by a lack of funds or a lack of technical skills? Come sit down with our laptop lab and design a free website using Weebly. Step-by-step, we will help you create a free account and an attractive, functional, five-page website. Registration is limited to 10 participants.

Top-Notch Customer Service Lunch & Learn

Date: July 30, 2015

Time: 11:00 am

Location: Central Mall

City: Fort Smith

Description: Customer service is a cost-free marketing technique and a way to set your business apart from your competitors. Join us at this lunch and learn workshop to understand how to stop barriers to customer service, meet customer expectations, handle unhappy customers, and create a culture of customer service! Lunch will be provided compliments of GFSAHB.

Money Management for Your Small Business

Date: July 30, 2015

Time: 3:00 pm

Location: HSU Mooney Hall

City: Arkadelphia

Description: Cash planning is often the key to business survival. Learn the concepts of short and long term cash budgeting. Do you know your cash needs for next year, next month, or even tomorrow? Don't gamble with the money of your business. Learn to take control of your cash planning now.

"Communities Helping A New Generation of Entrepreneurs, Inc." (CHANGE, Inc. ) is an organization that provides entrepreneur and money management related resources.

Communities Helping A New Generation of Entrepreneurs, Inc. (CHANGE) was founded in 2005 by Ms. Sonya Lane and Mr. A.D Wilbourn. CHANGE was created to bring awareness about small business development and managing money. In early 2004 A.D. Wilbourn began to formulate a music production company, during his start up phase Sonya and A.D. often discussed how great it would have been if they had known in high school that owning a business was an attainable goal.

They began research on entrepreneurship in Arkansas, and found some the schools had teachers who implemented entrepreneurship or economics into their lessons during the school year. This prompted them to start providing resources to the community to bring greater awareness about entrepreneurship across the state of Arkansas.

Entrepreneurship plays a vital role in today’s society for various reasons. The entrepreneur is often the source for providing new and improved products and services. The best ideas for new businesses come from our youth. 7 out of 10 high school students say that they would like to start a business someday. The future of the small business world lies within the creative minds of our youth, and they should be given all the skills needed to turn a great idea into a successful business.

Hi! I am Sonya Lane

I try to learn something new each day and I thank God for my many blessings. I enjoy sharing my knowledge, resources, time and anything else I have to help others. My goal is to make sure that the youth in Arkansas strive to be the best, learn to recognize opportunities, seek higher education and stay alcohol and drug free. The youth are our blessings from God and it is up to us to make sure that they are well prepared to be our next Leaders, Parents, Educators and much more.

CHANGE, Inc. "God Gave Everybody A Talent, what are you doing with yours"-Wilbournlane